Monday, 26 February 2018

First, we had Adrian Mole, then Bridget Jones and now
Eleanor Oliphant. It’s all in the voice. Anyone who watched The Bridge and was
fascinated by the character of Saga will recognise that Eleanor is on the
autistic spectrum. Honeyman manages to capture this authentic and poignant voice
consistently, which is impressive in itself. Eleanor is fully functioning in
many ways, but she doesn’t understand or do social niceties, doesn’t understand
the reason for or tell white lies, she ‘tells it how it is’ and pays the price
for it with sniggers and cold-shouldering on all sides.

Themes of loneliness, alienation and the struggle to fit in
– we’ve all experienced these to some extent – form the humanitarian reach of the
book. Whilst Eleanor’s personal take on life is extreme because of her
condition (and upbringing), we’ve all been there. Take, for example, the title
of the book – we’ve all said we’re ‘fine’ at some point, when we’re not, when
in truth we’re sobbing inside or desperate for someone to listen to our fears
or give us a big hug. But with Eleanor, everything is that much harder. She’s
got no supportive family and grew up in foster homes. She’s disfigured with a
scar (externally and internally). We know there was a fire in her past and through
tiny reveals as the story progresses, we get to know the deeper damage done in
her childhood involving a cold and deviant mother.

Already in her thirties, Eleanor seems to grow up and
blossom in this story: we see her explore kindness, discover joy in simple
things such as the touch of a hand, a haircut, kitten heels instead of
'versatile' Velcro shoes. She starts to become part of things rather than always
observing and being excluded on the side-lines.

The themes are handled with great tenderness, wit and panache, but Eleanor’s real journey is about discovering love, where she
least expects it. She and a work colleague, the unrefined Raymond, are involved
in a simple act of kindness. They help get an elderly man to hospital when he
falls in the street. From this one act follows a string of new connections for
Eleanor – the stranger’s family, parties, makeover appointments and new
routines in her life as Raymond keeps the connection between them going.

It’s Eleanor’s view of the world in this book that is both
refreshing, funny and heart-breaking. Those three words probably sum up the
feel of the book. It will make you cry! Highly recommended.

Friday, 9 February 2018

The last few months have been pretty manic and I thought
it was high time I came up for air to let you know what I've been up to!

The terrific news is that I've now got a UK publisher, Bloodhound Books, for my next two novels. This is a pretty big shift for me. I've been known, to date, as a 'Hybrid'
author, with traditional deals abroad and self-published books in UK – a route that has worked out incredibly well for me. So, why the change?

Firstly, it means I can get TWO novels out in 2018, which would have had me on the floor in a heap had I not had a publisher! A standalone within six months and the next in my Dr Sam series, soon after – is a great way to keep a high profile. For any author, staying in the spotlight is the key! And there's no better way to do that than by bringing out a new book.

But the main reason for choosing a publisher has been the increasing workload. I currently have six books out in
the world needing individual management. By that, I mean tweaking the prices, setting up Amazon deals and promotions, changing the metadata from time to time, responding to readers queries. It’s a bit like having a huge family – six
demanding children vying for my attention with two more on the way!! I’d got to
the point before Christmas when it all seemed too much. The thought of setting up the next title from
scratch felt downright daunting, even though I’ve done it several times
before. Doing everything from organising the book cover through to the Blog Tour
at the launch itself is a lot of work and systems change – just when you think you’ve
got the hang of it, it doesn’t work that way anymore!

I've used a Trello board to organise my book releases in the past and each
book has had a run up of about six months from the moment of completion
to launch date, with over a hundred different stages each time. The hardest part is doing everything in exactly the right order and covering all the little details as well as leaving enough time, such as gaps for proof copies to be mailed over from US, then getting these out to proofreaders.

So, on the verge of running out of steam, I contacted a
publisher who had approached me earlier in the year, Bloodhound Books. I’d
heard through the grapevine that, although a small indie publisher, they
were expanding rapidly, taking on new bestselling authors and getting
great feedback from a bunch of happy writers. I’m delighted to say Bloodhound
read my book and snapped it up within 36 hours! They also wanted the next one
in the Dr Samantha Willerby series, PERFECT BONES – the thriller I was originally planning to
release this year. I can’t tell you what a weight off my mind it has been to pass over
the nitty gritty (and hard graft) to a dedicated team of industry
professionals – phew!

I can now focus on editing these two books and planning the next book... I'll still be writing full-time, but I'll have more chance to smell the roses, too! Seriously, all creative people need space to fill up their 'creative well' or else they find themselves running on empty. I'll still be doing promotion and sending out a few personal ARCs of the new books to readers, so
if you’re interested in reading an advance copy, just let me know via Twitter or my Contact Form.

I can’t give too much away at this stage, but here's a taster
for the new standalone:

I've had the first feedback from Bloodhound during the editing stage:

'This, truly, is a brilliant novel...'

Yikes - what more could I possibly wish for?!

So, February onwards is going to be full-steam ahead with edits on DON'T YOU DARE forthe launch on May 5th, 2018 (save the date!), before I knuckle down to more edits with PERFECT BONES. That's when I'll be reacquainting myself with my intrepid amateur sleuth, Dr Sam, when she returns for this police procedural, due out in November 2018.

In the meantime, I'm playing around with a few new ideas for book number nine...

Tuesday, 5 December 2017

Breaking news - I've just signed a Two-book publishing deal with
Bloodhound Books!

I'm delighted to announce that I've signed a two-book contract with Bloodhound Books for my next standalone thriller and Book Threein the Dr Samantha Willerby series. The
fabulous news is that the stand alonewill
be published as early as this summer 2018! AndBook Three in the series will only be a few months behind it.

Bloodhound Books are a leading and fast-expanding
publisher of crime and thriller fiction with the digital savvy and marketing
know-how to get the books seen in all the right places. Their collaborative
approach with authors and strong emphasis on promotion particularly appeals to
me. I reckon this is a very positive step forward for my writing career: publishing
with Bloodhound means I can pass the production side of things on to them, so I
can concentrate on writing more new novels as well as interacting with my
lovely readers!